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Tag Archives: woodland flowers

Shades, Sounds and Scents of the Woods

22 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by theresagreen in birds of Wales, Nature of Wales, woodland birds

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

alexanders, Blue tit, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, colour in winter woods, fragrant wild flowers, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, hazel catkins, lamb's tails, lesser periwinkle, mosses & liverworts, Robin, snowdrop, Spurge laurel, treecreeper, woodland flowers

February 18th-Bryn Euryn-Woodland Path

A bit fed up with dull drab winter days, a sunny start to the day inspired me to go out and seek signs of the coming Spring and hopefully some colour. A Robin sang from a tree branch at the beginning of the Woodland Path, then minutes later the delightful and uplifting sight of a bank of Snowdrops in full flower made the perfect start.

Our Snowdrop display may not be on the scale of that of those boasted by our local National Trust gardens, but it is no less beautiful and uplifting; and I didn’t have to drive anywhere to see it. 

Lesser Periwinkle- Vinca minor

Nearby, peeping out shyly from beneath a bramble, the bright blue face of a Periwinkle.

A Barberry shrub arches gracefully over the pathway, its golden-orange flowers not yet quite open. I thought it was a bit early for it to be flowering? Barberry- Berberis vulgaris is a native plant, but it is scarce in the wild although widely naturalised.  This one, or an ancestor of it may have been planted when this woodland was part of the grounds of the house that used to stand where our apartment building is now. Either way it’s pretty and a splash more colour to add to my collection.   

Another shrub I found flowering, Mahonia, has also likely arrived here from a garden. Its bright yellow flowers also look good and smell lovely.

Barberry-Berberis vulgaris
Barberry-Berberis vulgaris
Mahonia-Mahonia japonica
Mahonia-Mahonia japonica

Of course green is still the predominant colour, but there are splashes of bright fresh shades breaking up the dark evergreens. Mosses are at their best at this time of year, brightening the shady woodland floor, smothering rocks and the bases of tree trunks with patches of vivid green. I have yet to learn to identify the different species, so for now I think of this one as ‘looking like a forest of miniature pine trees’!

Although I walk this path often I can still see things I’ve not spotted before, like this pretty clump of Navelwort. Its pretty round leaves, dimpled in the centre and with  frilled edges look a bit like green flowers.

Navelwort-Umbillicus rupestris

There are a number of Spurge laurel plants in this part of the woods and they too are flowering now. The flowers are a subtle lime green-yellow colour but they are pretty and in common with those of other members of the daphne family they are deliciously scented, with an aroma that really is like warm honey.

Spurge laurel-Daphne laureola
Spurge laurel-Daphne laureola
Fully opened flowers
Fully opened flowers

It’s wonderful to hear the woods full of bird sounds again. Throughout most of this walk I was surrounded by the sounds of birds, mostly the cheerful chirps and chatter of tits keeping contact with one another. Blue tits were everywhere, up high in trees and lower down in the shrubs, investigating every nook, cranny and leaf for potential food. They are bright colourful little birds, but still blend surprisingly well into the woodland background.


Great tits are also about, but their favoured place is around the Scots Pines where there are often several. They are more easily heard than seen and have a huge repertoire of calls and phrases at their disposal. Years ago I learnt from a bird-watching master that if you hear a bird sound you don’t recognise the chances are it will be a Great Tit!

I stood and watched them there for a few minutes until my neck ached from craning upwards.Thankfully I was distracted by a Treecreeper up in a big sycamore tree nearby.

It was exceptionally well-camouflaged against the shaded, heavily textured bark and hard to see when not mobile and flashing its white undersides. It was fascinating to watch as it contorted itself, using its tail to steady itself to probe its beak into its deep fissures. From this spot I also heard the screeching of Jays and caught a glimpse of one before it sped off through the trees.

I passed by the remains of the Scots Pine that was sadly felled in a storm two years ago. Much of it has been sawn and removed; what’s left is being gradually absorbed back into the fabric of the woodland. I liked its rich colour and texture.

Looking across the boundary fence here the colours of the landscape in general are still predominantly brown and green, but taking time to look properly you appreciate the are a myriad of shades of those colours. And I’m sure the grass is getting greener by the day!

I usually concentrate on the more scenic aspects of this view, but zooming in and down onto an edge of the far landscape reveals an interesting slice of a community. An interesting juxtaposition caught my eye – Modern Industry and a Final Resting Place separated by a field full of sheep turned out to eat turnips!

On the field-woodland boundary is more colour. Gorse is blooming bringing forth its warm golden glow. I think this line of gorse was probably planted here as a boundary hedge. This was a common and effective practice in Wales to prevent animals wandering and remnants of such hedges can still be found in the countryside, particularly in Anglesey.

I heard a Robin singing and noticed bird movement amongst the Gorse. Zooming in I found the rusty-red of two Robins there, one being the source of the song. I wonder if they were mates prospecting for a nest site or rivals claiming territory?

Two birds in a bush

Honeysuckle twining up the wire boundary fence has well-grown fresh leaves already; quite surprising in this exposed spot.

Honeysuckle leaves are well-grown

Amongst leaf litter, ivy and feathery moss, Wood Sorrel has shown some of its bright green shamrock-like leaves throughout the winter. It will be flowering soon.

Leaves of Wood Sorrel

The top end of this path is becoming increasingly lined with Alexanders’ plants. Most are well-grown now, particularly those sheltered against tree trunks. They will flower soon; last year their flowers were much appreciated by some of the earlier hoverflies.

Alexanders-Smyrnium olusatrum

Woodland – Summit Trail

Emerging from the beneath the canopy of the woods onto the  open Woodland Trail the first colour I noticed was the blue of the sky!

Heading towards the track that leads up to the Summit Trail I heard a Woodpecker tapping. I’ve had several good sightings of Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the past few weeks, the latest one just this morning as it came down almost as far as our bird feeders. I scanned the trees for a sight of it but no luck. A Raven flew overhead, ‘cronking’ as it travelled to alert all to its presence.

Surprisingly there were a few bright red berries left on the big Holly bush; there are so many Blackbirds about I thought every last one would be gone by now. Perhaps they can’t reach those left at the end of branches. Many holly leaves have been ‘mined’ by insects so display bright pale splashes where there is now no chlorophyll.

180218-BEWT-1220-Holly leaf with miner
180218-BEWT-1155-Holly with few berries left

As I said earlier, Blackbirds were numerous and have turned their attentions to the Ivy berries, many of which are finally ripe. Everywhere there were berries there were birds from low down to the tops of trees. They rustle noisily around seeking the bunches of berries using a variety of techniques to reach the fruits. Their familiar scolding and alarm calls ring out from almost every tree as they chase away competitors.

 

Hazel catkins have been present since the autumn, gradually lengthening and maturing. Now their soft golden tassels are long and fluffy, resembling the ‘lamb’s tails’, which gave rise to the old country name for catkins.

Common Hazel (Corylus avellana)

Catkins are the male flowers of the plant, producing pollen to fertilise the tiny red female flowers that sit tightly on the twigs.

180218-BEWT-1334-Catkins
180218-BEWT-1316-Catkins & flower

I heard the Woodpecker again, this time drumming loudly on a tree trunk. It was too far away to try to locate it, but was good to hear. The males don’t have a song with which to claim ownership of their chosen patch of woodland, so they use the tool they have, their powerful bill to drum on dead trees. They can be clever in their choice of drumming spot, often choosing a site where the sound is amplified by surrounding features. A Thrush was singing nearby too, so I stopped to listen. Then two birds making sounds I didn’t recognise at all crashed into the top of a tree in front of me on the other side of the track. With the sun behind them they were drained of colour, but there was no mistaking their outlines – two Woodpeckers! I have no idea if they were a pair or two rivals chasing, but they left without a sound, one behind the other.

After the activity of the woods the almost-summit was surprisingly calm. This must be the first time for months that there has been not even a breath of wind and it was actually enjoyable to be up there! The sea of Colwyn Bay seemingly flat calm and mirroring the sky, now sunless, was a most unusual shade of blue-grey.

Swinging around to my right the snow-capped higher peaks of the Carneddau mountains rising above the river Conwy show remind that there is some Winter still to go.

Continuing up to the Summit you pass thickets of blackthorn; they take on a completely different appearance in the winter as their leafless black twigs and branches are richly encrusted with gold and silver-grey lichens.

180218-BEWT-1344-Lichens on blackthorn
180218-BEWT-1343-Lichens on blackthorn

Crossing to the North-facing side of the hill the view is down the coast along Penrhyn Bay to the Little Orme; the sea is still calm but more blue. The field (on the opposite side of the road to the golf course) has a lot if standing water and I could see there were gulls and Oystercatchers feeding there. This is the ‘Curlew field’ that I’ve mentioned many times. I couldn’t make out if there were any Curlew there, but I did hear one and the tide appears to be in, so there most likely were.

Below is a panoramic view starting from past the Little Orme on the right of the image and travelling along to the hills at the end of the Carneddau. Anglesey lies on the horizon behind the stretch of water which is the Menai Strait. It would have looked better if the sun had still been out, but it’s still pretty spectacular.

click for bigger image

Going down, the Gorse on the hillside is in full golden flower. It was only planted in recent years but has quickly thickened and grown taller.

I walked home across the field where a Long-tailed tit flew in front of me: it was so close I could almost have touched it. They are so pretty. It was one of a party but the others took a more cautious route around the field via the trees rather than the direct crossing.

I completed the circuit of the Bryn walking back along the Woodland Trail. It was much quieter now but I did get one last look of two Great Spotted Woodpeckers together, so fingers crossed they are a pair. I’ll be keeping an eye out.

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Summer along a Welsh Woodland Trail

30 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by theresagreen in British hoverflies, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, bumblebees, butterflies, Butterflies of Wales, hoverflies, Insects, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, wildflowers, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

ash tree, episyrphus balteatus, eristalis pertinax, flesh-eating fly, hedge woundwort, helophilus pendulus, hypericum montanum, large pied hoverfly, marmalade fly, Pale St John's Wort, sarcophoga carnaria, Stinking Iris-Iris foetidissima, syrphus ribesii, tapered drone fly, volucella zonaria, wild strawberry fruit, woodland flowers

Variable summer weather is perhaps more the norm here in North Wales than in some other parts of the UK, although we still feel hard done to when yet another day dawns doomed to be overcast. There are many compensations though, one of which is that when the odd sunny, or partially sunny day occurs, the insects come out in force in search of sustenance. I photographed all of the following along Bryn Euryn’s Woodland Trail during a fleeting sunny spell a couple of weeks ago.

The woodland trail

The shady woodland trail

On the edge of the trail a substantial bramble was still flowering and literally buzzing with insects, mostly hoverflies and bees. There were two butterflies, a Red Admiral and a Comma that were flying around rather frantically, both of which briefly (and separately) landed on my arm. Poor things were clearly overcome by the presence of both sun and nectar. I would have liked a more conventional shot of the Comma, this being the first I’d seen here this year, but it was taunting me from high over my head so this was my best view. I rather like it and it’s clear from the outline that it is a Comma.

The Comma insisted on playing hide and seek

The Comma insisted on playing hide and seek

The hoverflies were very active, not pausing for long but these are the ones I could get to fairly easily:

Volucella pellucens-Pellucid fly is the largest fly in Great Britain

Volucella pellucens- sometimes called the Pellucid fly, this is the largest fly of Great Britain

150712TG-Bryn Euryn-hvfly-Volucella pellucens (7)

A gorgeous Volucella zonaria

A gorgeous Volucella zonaria – my first sighting here

A Tapered drone fly-eristalis pertinax grooming its legs

A Tapered drone fly – Eristalis pertinax

Eristalis nemorum (interruptus)

Eristalis nemorum (interruptus)

A more distant view of a Helophilus pendulus

A more distant view of a Helophilus pendulus

A Syrphus sp hoverfly-Syrphus ribesii - one of the most common species

A Syrphus sp hoverfly-Syrphus ribesii – one of the most commonly seen species

A tiny Marmalade fly-Episyrphus balteatus, probably our most common hoverfly

A tiny Marmalade fly-Episyrphus balteatus, probably our most common hoverfly

There were bees too, including lots of tiny red-tailed and buff-tailed worker bumblebees that were way too quick for me to focus on.

Honey bee

Honey bee

A less charming insect to many, I find the Flesh-eating fly-Sarcophaga carnaria rather attractive to look at. I think the white feet complete the look, makes it look rather dapper.

Flesh-eating fly-Sarcophoga carnaria

Flesh-eating fly-Sarcophoga carnaria

The trees are still green and fresh-looking thanks to the rain and cooler weather, although those in the top right of the next picture are looking quite lacy.

150712TG-Bryn Euryn-looking up into an ash tree

Looking up into an Ash tree

Continuing along the trail I hear a few birds letting the world know they are still about, Chiffchaff song bursts were fairly frequent, I heard Wrens and the contact calls of Blue Tits and plenty of corvid cawings. I found this feather too, maybe once belonging to a Magpie, it gleamed shades of almost peacock-blue in the dappled sunlight.

A corvid feather

A corvid feather

Honeysuckle is in flower now on the trail’s  edge and I couldn’t resist stopping to inhale its clean, fresh fragrance.

Lovely scented honeysuckle

Lovely scented honeysuckle

There is purple Hedge woundwort too, which has an earthy pungent, nettle-like scent.

Pungently scented Hedge Woundwort

Pungently scented Hedge Woundwort

Foxgloves are almost over-flowering reduced to the tips of the long bent-over  stems

Foxgloves are almost over-flowering reduced to the tips of the long bent-over stems

Wood sage-Teucrium scorodonia

Wood sage-Teucrium scorodonia

And a St John’s Wort I’d not spotted before, which I think is hypericum montanum, but happy to be corrected as always.

Pale St John's Wort-Hypericum montanum

Pale St John’s Wort-Hypericum montanum

A rather unusual plant grows here in the shady woodland, delightfully named the Stinking Iris and sometimes the ‘Roast-beef Plant’, both names allude to the sweetly acrid smell, like ‘high’ meat. This is one of just two Iris species native to the UK; the other is the Yellow Flag Iris.

The charmingly-named Stinking Iris-Iris foetidissima

The delightfully-named Stinking Iris-Iris foetidissima

Closer look at an Iris flower

Closer look at an Iris flower which is a greyish-mauve tinged with a brownish-pink

The much more common Nipplewort

The much more common Nipplewort-Lapsana communis

A Nipplewort leaf showing the path of a leaf-miner

A Nipplewort leaf showing the path of a leaf-miner

I picked a couple of ripe wild wild strawberries, trying not to think about the fly sitting on a leaf above them and their proximity to the path along which there is a regular procession of loose dogs….. They were delicious, regardless.

Sweet-tasting Wild Strawberries

Sweet-tasting Wild Strawberries

Turned off and took the steps up to Adder’s Field

Steps leading up to the meadow

Steps leading up to the meadow

more treats were in store there but there’s far too much to cram into one post, so will be continued….

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Spring on the Bryn-part II

11 Monday May 2015

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, butterflies, Butterflies of Wales, Nature of Wales, nature of woodlands, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

blackthorn, blackthorn blossom, Blue tit, dog violet, Great Tit, mistle thrush, orange tip, peacock butterfly, rabbit, small tortoiseshell, speckled wood, wild strawberry, woodland flowers

Walking further up through the field the local buzzard pair circled overhead, then just a few minutes later a sparrowhawk appeared from somewhere close by and startled me as it flew just a few feet over my head, then continued towards the direction from which I had come.

Gorse fully in flower

Gorse fully in flower

A bit further on I stopped for a while and sat on one of my favourite rocks savouring the warm sun and the peace and quiet; that rarely lasts long just here as its at a sort of junction of trails so there are passing dogs, usually well ahead of their owners that invariably come over to see what I’m up to. I watched two peacock butterflies vying for the best spot on a sun-warmed rock. The winner opened its slightly faded, but still beautiful wings and basked for a few short minutes undisturbed.

Peacock butterfly

Peacock butterfly

Moving off my rock to photograph the butterflies I noticed a patch of Wild Strawberry in flower. Tucked back against the rock it is sheltered and in a sunny spot, perfect for ripening berries.

Wild Strawberry plant in flower

Wild Strawberry-Fragaria vesca in flower

Back in the woods to walk up towards the summit I disturbed a large foraging bird. It flew up to a tree branch where it blended well into the dappled shade. It had to be a Mistle Thrush but I wasn’t entirely sure until it flew back down to the ground giving a better view.

A Mistle Thrush blending into the dappled shade of the wood

A Mistle Thrush blending into the dappled shade of the wood

Unmistakably a Mistle Thrush

Unmistakably a Mistle Thrush

At the top of the track there was a single Speckled Wood butterfly, a lovely ‘fresh’ one. It was intent on finding somewhere to bask in the sun and flitting and zig-zagging about low over the track. You have to keep an eye on them because once they settle they can be difficult to spot. I had to make do with this view as it still wasn’t happy and shot off quickly.

Speckled Wood butterfly

Speckled Wood butterfly

Back out in the open and continuing upwards I almost stepped on a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly also sunning itself on the bare earth of the track.

Small tortoiseshell- Aglais urticae

Small tortoiseshell- Aglais urticae

A little clump of Dog Violets growing in the grass at the side of the track caught my eye; the bee-fly zoomed in just as I pressed the shutter and was gone again before I could refocus on it.

Common Dog Violet- Viola riviniana

Common Dog Violet- Viola riviniana

Blackthorn, of which there is a generous amount up here, has been flowering for a short while now but is at its beautiful peak now. Last year was a sparse one in respect of the amount of sloes on the shrubs here, but if the masses of blossom on them now are anything to go by, this could be a bumper year.

Blackthorn with a view

Blackthorn with a view

The flowers of blackthorn appear before the leaves and these are just beginning to break from their buds.

Blackthorn-Prunus spinosa

Blackthorn-Prunus spinosa

Blackthorn blossom against a clear blue sky

Blackthorn blossom against a clear blue sky

Another male Orange Tip butterfly was racing along the boundary of the blackthorn scrub. He didn’t stop, but as my first sighting of this species this year was a few days earlier of one nectaring on blackthorn, I’m using one of the photographs I took then.

Orange Tip- Anthocharis cardamines

Orange Tip- Anthocharis cardamines

Following the path around to go up to the summit I noticed two Small Tortoiseshell butterflies on the ground. I thought at first they were mating, or about to do so and they did change their positions a few times, but nothing happened during the time I watched them. One was more fresh-looking than the other, but they were both perfectly intact and gorgeous.

150424TG-BE336-Two tortoiseshells150424TG-BE337-Two tortoiseshells150424TG-BE335-Two tortoiseshells

The grass up around the summit of the hill is kept short, constantly cropped by grazing rabbits. I think it’s highly likely that this particular part of the hill covers a maze of warrens and tunnels. You don’t often get to see them , especially during the daytime, but there are baby ones around now and not yet wise they can be seen out in the open.

Young bunnies

Young bunnies

Ground Ivy-Glechoma hederacea

Ground Ivy-Glechoma hederacea

I cut back into the woods here from the track the bunnies were on, hearing a chiffchaff a short way in. I spotted Great Tits foraging in the trees close to the track that flew over to the scrubby wild clematis-covered scrub on the other side.

Great Tit

Great Tit

Where I stopped to take the picture there were a large number of smallish hoverflies darting about, resting briefly on leaves or many on the ground, all shiny and fresh looking as the ones I saw lower down earlier in the afternoon.

There were Blue Tits out foraging too and I think its likely that a pair have a nest site quite high in a tree with ivy growing up through it.

Foraging Blue Tits

Foraging Blue Tits

At the bottom of the track I stopped for a few minutes to listen to a Mistle Thrush singing. This was a déjà vu moment as I recall doing this exact same thing last year, more or less in the exact same spot, scanning the trees for the singer. I found him then, but couldn’t spot him today, so here’s last year’s picture to be going on with. What a lovely bird and how lovely to see him again. (More about the Mistle Thrush here)

A well-marked, singing mistle thrush

A well-marked, singing Mistle Thrush

 

 

 

 

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Seven days later…

23 Thursday May 2013

Posted by theresagreen in nature of woodlands, nature photography

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

ash leaves, dog mercury, Fairy Glen, garlic mustard, herb robert, shades of green, speedwell, spring flowers, woodland flowers

It would seem Mother Nature has finally reached the point at which she is fed up holding back until we get a decent spell of warmer weather to declare it really is Spring, and decided to go for it regardless. In just seven days the progress of new growth bursting forth has been almost unbelievable and in Fairy Glen, the energy output is almost tangible.

I never cease to be amazed by the sheer number of shades of green, the beautiful shapes and textures of leaves.

Shiny new ash leaves

Shiny new ash leaves

soft new beech leaves shaking out the wrinkles

soft new beech leaves shaking out the wrinkles

Sycamores already have flowers

Sycamores already have flowers

holly leaves

holly leaves

blackthorn blossom is almost over now

blackthorn blossom is almost over now

Ferns are stretching upwards and unfurling cautiously, reluctant to unclench their delicate tips until they’re sure its warm enough.

fern fronds are almost unfurled

fern fronds are tall and almost unfurled

Plants on the woodland floor know their days in the sunlight are numbered and are rushing to flower; some such as the dog’s mercury are almost done already.

dog's mercury

dog’s mercury

130517tgflwr4-garlic mustard flowers & buds

garlic mustard

Here and there the palette of greens is highlighted with delicate touches of pink and blue.

130517tgflw4-herb robert against tree bark

herb robert

speedwell

I could be happy living in a permanent state of Spring.

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Snowdrops at Chirk Castle

13 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by theresagreen in flower folklore, Nature, nature of woodlands, wildflowers

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Chirk Castle, National Trust, snowdrop, snowdrop displays, woodland flowers

I know it has been an age since I published my last post, but too many other things have needed my attention and something had to give. I have been keeping an eye on things though and taking comfort from the fact that while we fill our lives with complications, nature is much more straightforward and the seasons’ events have unfolded as they should, without fuss. It would be fair to say that any posts I might have made would have been very similar to those from last winter, so I’ve been thinking how I can make this year’s a bit different.

I’ve done a fair amount of travelling this winter, making the train journey from Colwyn Bay down to Leicester and back again several times. It is a long journey, taking about 4 hours each way to complete, but the route is interesting, and takes you through some wonderful scenery. I have become intrigued by some of the places the train stops at or passes through, so I thought I might try to visit some of them this coming year and find out a bit more about them and their surrounding area. I joined the National Trust last autumn too and would like to get as much as possible from my membership, so as there is a rich variety of Trust properties around this England/Wales border country, that should not be too difficult, providing I can find the time to make the trips. 

One of the station halts is at Chirk, which I knew to be famous for its castle, but there my knowledge ended. It has a nice little station that is dwarfed by and juxtaposed with an enormous wood-processing plant whose chimneys belch out great streams of  thick white steam, or is it smoke? Now to go off at a bit of a tangent, I was researching places where I might find a good display of Snowdrops and by a happy sort-of coincidence, it happens that there is such a thing in the gardens surrounding Chirk Castle, that is owned by the National Trust and is within reasonable driving distance of here so a visit there would tick off at least three of my boxes in a single day. The Snowdrops would be at their best in February, so that gave impetus to making the effort, which is what is needed sometimes, especially in the winter.

Chirk Castle from the gardens

Chirk Castle from the gardens

Completed in 1310, Chirk is the last Welsh castle from the reign of Edward I that’s still lived in today. Features from its 700 years include the medieval tower and dungeon, 17th-century Long Gallery, grand 18th-century state apartments, servants’ hall and historic laundry.

The gardens feature beautifully clipped yews

The gardens feature beautifully clipped yews

The award-winning gardens contain clipped yews, herbaceous borders, shrub and rock gardens. A terrace with stunning views looks out over the Cheshire and Salop plains.

Part of the extensive clipped yew hedge with woodland beyond framing the breathtaking views

Part of the extensive clipped yew hedge with woodland beyond framing the breathtaking views

We had a look around the parts of the castle that were open today, had a pleasant lunch, de rigeur when visiting a National Trust property with one’s other half who would prefer to be at home watching the football on a Saturday afternoon, then headed for the gardens. The Snowdrops were beautiful, well worth the effort to go to see.

A carpet of Snowdrops beneath the trees

A carpet of Snowdrops beneath the trees

A beautiful sight

A  closer view of a beautiful sight

Reflections

Snowdrop reflections

Sheltering amongst tree roots

Sheltering amongst tree roots

Snowdrop 

Snowdrops are iconic flowers that traditionally herald the ending of winter and are surely too well known to need a description.

Scientific name: Galanthus nivalis L.

Conservation status: Rated as Near Threatened (NT) according to IUCN Red List criteria.

Origin of botanical name: From Greek, gala, milk and anthos, a flower; nivalis, snowy

Other common names: Candlemas bells, Mary’s taper, Snow-piercer, February fairmaids, Dingle-dangle

Snowdrop-Galanthus nivalis

Snowdrop-Galanthus nivalis

Flowering : February to March

Habitat: On the European continent Snowdrops grow in wild habitats, in damp woods and meadows up to 1,600 metres; the leaf tips are specially hardened for breaking through frozen ground. In Britain, Snowdrops are possibly both native and naturalised and were not recorded as growing wild here until the 1770s. It is very likely that many of our colonies of wild Snowdrops originated with ecclesiastical plantings. The pure white blooms of the Snowdrop have long been accepted by the Catholic Church as a symbol of Candlemas, celebrated on February 2nd, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, and their association with monastic sites is apparent right across Britain.

Folklore

Although the flowers are sanctified for Candlemas, the snowdrop is one of the many white blossoms that are still regarded as being unlucky if brought into the house. In parts of Northumberland, Westmorland and Hampshire, single flowers particularly are still viewed as ‘death-tokens’. This may be as one Victorian explanation was that the flower “looked for all the world like a corpse in its shroud”. According to the ‘language of the flowers’, the snowdrop was an emblem for virginity, and a few blooms enclosed in an envelope were often used to warn off over-ardent wooers. In a similar vein, in Yorkshire there was an old custom, again celebrated on Candlemas, for village maidens to gather bunches of snowdrops and wear them as symbols of purity. (extracts from Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey)

Key uses

Ornamental. Medicinal. Insecticide.

The alkaloid Galantamine, which was initially isolated from snowdrops, has been used in treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, neuritis and neuralgia. In parts of eastern Europe, rubbing snowdrops on the forehead was a folk remedy used for pain relief.

Known hazards: Snowdrops and their bulbs are poisonous to humans and can cause nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting if eaten in large quantities.

 

 

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A trip to Pembrokeshire:Part 2: Flowers in the rain

15 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by theresagreen in Nature, nature of woodlands, nature photography, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

dog rose, foxglove, poisonous wildflowers, red campion, wayside flowers, woodland flowers, woody nightshade

As we surveyed the ash tree the tree surgeon arrived and quickly assessed the work involved in removing the obstruction, estimating that it would take him about two hours to clear. The rain and wind persisted, but had eased at that point, so as we had piled on waterproofs anyway, we wandered back towards the house stopping to see how the saturated wildflowers had fared.

At this time of year Red Campion-Silene dioica is a familiar sight on the banks of Welsh lanes, along the roadsides and on woodland edges. Its flowering season is quite a lengthy one, beginning in May when it accompanies bluebells and continuing on through the summer and into September. Individually, the plants are rather straggly and untidy, but beautiful en masse at the peak of  its blooming when it can colour large swathes of ground.

Red campion – Silene dioica

Foxgloves typify June in most parts of Wales, appearing in a wide variety of habitats from the lanes and woodlands to clifftops and mountains. This morning some of the more exposed blooms were  looking a little the worse for wear in the aftermath of their night’s battering, but even those with bent stems still managed to look graceful and elegant beaded with droplets of rain.

Foxglove bent by the wind & rain

Cow Parsley flowerheads were drenched, but the drooping buds, each adorned with a droplet of water at their tips looked so pretty, like miniature chandeliers adorned with clear crystal beads. The presence of the little slug on the flowerhead in my photograph spoils that metaphor slightly, but it was quite attractive in its own way.

Cow parsley being investigated by a small brown slug

In the hedgerow I came across a few flowering trusses of purple Woody Nightshade, or Bittersweet – Solanum dulcamara. The plant stems grow long, but are not equipped with any climbing aids such as hooks, nor do they twine, they simply leans on other plants for support. A member of the potato family, the plant’s purple flowers with yellow centres are attractive, but I grew up in fear of it, being strongly warned to stay well away from it as it was very poisonous; in fact we knew it as deadly nightshade, although that name really applies to another member of the family, Belladonna.

The attractive, but potentially poisonous flowers of woody nightshade, alternatively named or bittersweet

There were a surprising number of insects around, particularly flies of various kinds. I noticed quite a few of the species in the photograph below, most sitting on leaves rather than flying around and wondered if they were sucking up tiny droplets of water from their surfaces. I’m not sure what they are, but think they may be dung flies; if anyone knows I’d love to know for sure.

There were a lot of these flies sitting around on various leaves, this one on the reverse, or stinging side of a nettle leaf. With its proboscis extended down to the leaf’s surface, was it drinking?

The Dog Roses are spectacular this year with shrubs smothered with  pink-flushed blooms; the after-effects of their being subjected to the heavy rain will probably be apparent in a day or two’s time, but at the moment they are gorgeous.

Dog Rose-Rosa canina

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Blooming Bryn Euryn

11 Friday May 2012

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, flower folklore, Local Nature Reserves, Nature, nature of woodlands, nature photography, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

cowslip, Dandelion, early purple orchid, flower folklore about cowslip, hart's tongue fern, hawthorn in flower, welsh poppy, white-tailed bumblebee, wild strawberry, wildflowers of Bryn Euryn, woodland flowers, woodruff

The local nature reserve on Bryn Euryn is a popular venue for a wide variety of walkers and is not usually the place I head for if I fancy a long peaceful walk. But, if you happen to get the timing right there are occasions when you can meander around and almost have the place to yourself. So it was on a damp afternoon a couple of weeks ago when I went there just to see what there was to see.

The small meadow next to car park was golden with dandelions that were attracting the attention of a number of bumblebees.

Dandelion – taraxacum officinale -visited by a white-tailed bumblebee

Some of the flowers have already gone to seed.

Dandelion seed head

Harts Tongue ferns are a feature of the local woodlands here and already quite well grown.

Harts tongue fern. The plants grow on neutral and lime-rich substrates, including moist soil and damp crevices in old walls, most commonly in shaded situations but occasionally in full sun.

The new leaves are a bright shiny green

Harts Tongue Fern – Phyllitis scolopendrium. The plants are unusual in the genus of ferns as they have  simple, undivided fronds. The leaves are 10–60 cm long and 3–6 cm broad, with sori (A sorus (pl. sori) is a cluster of sporangia (structures producing and containing spores) that are arranged in rows perpendicular to the rachis. ) In plants a rachis is the main axis of the inflorescence or spike. In ferns it is also the part of the axis to which the pinnae are attached.

The plant’s common name derives from the shape of its fronds, being thought to resemble a deer’s tongue: hart was an alternative  word for “stag”, from the Old English heorot, “deer”. The sori pattern is reminiscent of a centipede’s legs, and scolopendrium is Latin for “centipede”. 

This fern was recommended as a medicinal plant in folk medicine as a spleen tonic and for other uses.

Whilst still in the cover of woodland I spotted a Long-tailed Tit foraging amongst tree branches and a Song Thrush out on the  path also hunting. I saw and heard several Robins, Blue and Great Tits and Chiffchaff. A family of Magpie were also out and about, five of them up near the summit and there were Greenfinch lower down around the carpark.

I changed my route slightly today, mainly to avoid the uphill track through the woodland which was very muddy and quite slippery, choosing instead a surfaced one that leads around the base of the Bryn (hill). Happily, being more open and less shaded, there were plants growing here I would otherwise have missed.

Wild strawberry plants growing along the edge of a woodland track

Wild strawberry – Fragaria vesca very much resembles a miniature garden strawberry and similarly produces delicious tiny sweet berries. It is a very common plant throughout the British Isles and Western Europe found growing on all but strongly acid or waterlogged soils.

Hairy stalks bear 3 oval leaflets, also hairy and a bright shiny green. The leaflets have strong side veins, are broadest above the middle with sharp marginal teeth.

There is a similar-looking plant, the Barren Strawberry, which has duller grey-green leaves.

I was really pleased to find a Welsh poppy in flower along here, I used to have them in my garden when we lived in South Wales and loved them, especially where they seeded themselves amongst blue forget-me-nots.

Welsh Poppy -papaver cambricum

The Welsh Poppy has been adopted as the logo of the Welsh political party, Plaid Cymru

The Welsh poppy (Meconopsis cambrica) is a perennial plant native to south-western England, Wales, Ireland and Western Europe. Its favoured habitat is damp, shady places on rocky ground, and although its common name is ‘welsh poppy’, it is also native to south-western England, Wales, Ireland and Western Europe. In its most westerly locations, it is increasingly found on more open ground with less cover. It is also especially well adapted to colonising gaps and crevices in rocks and stones, which has enabled it to colonise urban environments, sometimes growing between paving slabs and at the edges of walls.

A grey squirrel paused in its tracks on a tree branch, keeping one eye fixed on me

Another favourite plant from my childhood, the cowslip, was also present here growing along the path edges, so I was sure there would be more once I reached the grassy slope of the lower hillside. I was not disappointed, there were beautiful masses of them.

Part of a mass of flowering cowslips

Cowslip – Primula veris

Cowslip – Primula veris, also variously known as Herb Peter, Paigle, Peggle, Key Flower, Key of Heaven, Fairy Cups, Petty Mulleins, Crewel, Buckles, Palsywort, Plumrocks.

According to folklore, cowslips first grew from the ground where St Peter dropped his keys and this is recorded in the French, German, and Old English names (clef de Saint Pierre, Schlusselblumen, and Key of Heaven respectively). The name cowslip, on the other hand, derives from the old English name, cūslyppe  or cowslop, because the plant used to grow best in meadows frequented by herds of cows.

The species name vēris means “of spring”.

Despite its pungent choice of habitat, the flowers of the cowslip have a lovely, almost-apricot scent and not so long ago were sufficiently and reliably abundant to allow them to be picked and used to make deliciously fragrant cowslip wine. (Now of course it is illegal to pick flowers from the wild so if you want to try it you’d have to find an alternative supply.) Cowslip is frequently found on more open ground than Primula vulgaris (primrose) including open fields, meadows, and coastal dunes and clifftops. Nowadays the seeds are often included in wild-flower seed mixes used to landscape motorway banks and similar civil engineering earth-works where the plants may be seen in dense stands.

Herbal medicine

The traditional medicinal uses of cowslip are widespread and the different parts of the plant are still commonly used to treat a variety of complaints as wide ranging as lung disorders, insomnia, gout,arthritis and anxiety. The herb is also reputed to have beneficial effects on the heart . (Active ingredients include saponin glycosides, including primulic acid, primulaveroside, and primveroside; volatile oil; tannins; flavonoids, including luteolin, apigenin, kaempferol, and quercetin; phenolic glycosides). Its flowers and leaves are rich in vitamin C and beta-carotene, potassium, calcium, sodium and salicylates which help strengthen the immune system through its antioxidant properties and by lowering the cholesterol level.

Cowslip can effectively alleviate headaches but is not recommended to those who are allergic to aspirins, because of its high quantity of salicylates (the main basis for aspirin).

This herb is also used in cosmetics, used as an ingredient in face creams for its regenerating effects.

The cowslips were wonderful, but an even bigger treat were the orchids, masses of pretty early purple ones.

Orchids are always a special sight, especially the first ones to flower, the Early Purple Orchid

Early Purple Orchid-Orchis mascula

Finally lifting my eyes from ground level and the flowers, I was surprised to realise that the highest peak in our view from here across to the mountains of Snowdonia actually had snow on it.

The view to the snow-capped peaks of the Carneddau Mountains

Hawthorn blossom flowering in a sheltered spot

New oak leaves

Amongst some shrubby bushes, including the hawthorn, I came across a little flower I had almost forgotten about as it is so long since I saw it last, the delicate white-flowered Woodruff.

Woodruff- Galium odoratum

Woodruff –Galium odoratum is an herbaceous perennial plant  native to Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. Other common names include woodruff, sweet woodruff, and wild baby’s breath.

It grows to 30-50 cm (12-20 ins.) high but it is a weak-stemmed that is often found lying flat along the ground or supported by other plants it  prefers partial to full shade in moist, rich soils.

The flowers sweet smell is due to the presence of the odiferous agent coumarin; this scent intensifies as the plant wilts that persists on drying, and the dried plant is traditionally used in pot-pourri and as a moth deterrent. It is also used, mainly in Germany, to flavour May wine (called “Maiwein” or “Maibowle” in German), syrup for beer (Berliner Weisse), ice cream, and medicinally as a herbal tea with gentle sedative properties, but beware, high doses can cause headaches, due to the toxicity of coumarin.

A final view of Bluebells & Wild Garlic

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Woodland plants may be pungent, prickly and even poisonous

03 Thursday May 2012

Posted by theresagreen in nature of woodlands, nature photography, woodlands

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

black hairstreak butterfly, blackthorn, bluebell, herb robert, medicinal plants, Patrick Barkham, poisonous wildflowers, ramsons, wild garlic, woodland flowers

Spring is progressing rapidly and now at the end of April, the great majority of  woodland plants have come into flower, racing to achieve the maximum amount of light possible before the leaf canopy thickens and blots it out. In a more ‘normal’ year, they would reach their peak in May in southern England and a little later further north, but this year everything seems to be happening that bit earlier.

In local woodlands Ramsons, or wild Garlic has been showing blooms for several weeks now and is fast approaching its flowering peak. A wild relative of chives, all parts of the plant have a characteristic garlic or onion scent, and where there are masses of them their pungent scent fills the air; you can often smell their presence before seeing them.

Ramsons, Wild Garlic – Alium ursinum -Fairy Glen, Old Colwyn

Ramsons, Wild Garlic – Allium ursinum

Other common names include  buckrams, wild garlic, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, and bear’s garlic

The flower heads are enclosed within a papery two-lobed spathe

Native to Europe and Asia, Ramsons may be found growing  in deciduous woodlands with moist soils, preferring slightly acidic conditions. It is a perennial herb, growing from a narrow white bulb that produces two or three oval-elliptic leaves with pointed tips and long stalks that twist through 180 degrees. The leaves are similar to those of the lily of the valley and where the two plants are known to grow together, care must be taken not to confuse them should you be picking them to eat; those of the lily of the valley are highly poisonous.

A Ramsons flower visited by a tiny hoverfly. The flower-heads consist of six to twenty white star-like flowers held in dense flat-topped umbels atop a bare triangular scape (stem). Each flower is 16-20mm across and has six stamens.

Ramsons leaves are edible and are fashionable currently as ‘foraged food’; they have been traditionally used as an addition to a green salad,  boiled as a vegetable, added to soup, or as an ingredient for pestoin lieu of basil.  The bulbs and flowers are also very tasty.

A pretty clump of Bluebells – hyacintha non-scripta

A bluebell is visited by a small hoverfly

Bluebells are probably the most characteristic of all woodland flowers. The magnificent carpet of blue its massed blooms  produce, sometimes spreading throughout an entire woodland is a glorious spectacle. It epitomises spring woodlands, but is also a special feature of the British Isles and a rarity over most of continental Europe, either because the winters are too cold or the summers are too hot and dry.

The flowers are indisputably beautiful and release a lovely perfume, but the small bulbs they spring from are rather poisonous if eaten. Traditional medicinal uses of the bulb are based upon their diuretic and styptic properties. The toxic substances they contain also made them useful for a more unusual and practical purpose, as a source of glue used in bookbinding; apparently the toxins discouraged silverfish from eating them.  The toxicity may also be the origin of the superstitious belief that anyone who wanders into a ring of bluebells will fall under fairy enchantment and die soon after. Now I must confess that last little snippet of superstition was passed down in country areas well into my childhood- we lived on the edge of a wood, part of which was (happily still is) carpeted with bluebells in May and I spent many happy hours wandering through them. I was always very careful to make sure there were none growing in a ring.

Shrubs and bushes form the under-story level below the trees – they are woody but not normally tall enough to reach the woodland canopy. The blackthorn and hawthorn are two closely related shrubs, both members of the rose family and both contributing a great deal to our countryside. The blackthorn is usually the first of the two to flower and is familiar for its mass of white flowers produced in early spring before the leaves appear and for the purple sloes in autumn.

Sloe, Blackthorn – Prunus spinosa

The Blackthorn or sloe – Prunus spinosa  is native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is also locally naturalised in New Zealand and eastern North America.

It  is a deciduous large shrub or small tree growing to 5 m tall, with blackish bark and dense, stiff, spiny branches. The shrub protects itself from animal consumption with particularly long and very tough thorns, which has led to a long traditional use as boundary hedging around fields in Northern Europe and Britain, to contain animals.

The flowers are 1.5 cm diameter, with five creamy-white petals; they are produced shortly before the leaves in early spring, and are hermaphroditic and insect-pollinated.

The leaves are oval, 2 – 4.5cm long and 1.2-2cm across, with a serrated margin.

Blackthorn is the larval food plant of several butterflies, including the Black Hairstreak (Strymondia pruni), which feeds on both the leaf buds and mature leaves of the shrub. This butterfly is a rare species in Britain, restricted only to ‘a narrow belt of mature woodland areas, between Oxford and Peterborough.’  Diversifying a little, there’s a fascinating account of one man’s quest to find this butterfly, together with the rest of our British species in a book I have in my collection titled ‘The Butterfly Isles – A Summer in Search of our Emperors and Admirals’, written by Patrick Barkham. I’d love to know if anyone else has read it; I really enjoyed it, but it seems to have had mixed reviews.

Back to the plants. I’ve mentioned Dog’s Mercury in an earlier post, but didn’t say anything about it. It is actually quite an interesting one as its a bit of a beast appearing alongside the host of beauties featuring in our woodlands at this time of year.

To begin with the name, a  ‘dog’s’ plant is traditionally one with no medicinal uses and it may have obtained this name to contrast it with annual mercury which was used in cleansing enemas. Other slightly less common names are ‘Adder’s Meat’ and ‘Lasting Mercury’. The Mercurialis is open to some debate, although most sources I have come across favour Pliny who said the plant is named after Mercury, the messenger of the gods, who discovered it. The word ‘mercury’ itself is, however, said to be related to ‘merx’ meaning ‘wares’. With its alleged property of being able to determine the sex of an unborn child, it may be that this plant was traded and was ‘merx’.

29/4/12 – Dog’s mercury is fully grown now and flowering

The plant is poisonous; it contains methylamine, trimethylamine, saponins and a volatile oil. This would give it  emetic and purgative properties, meaning consumption would most probably lead to nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Larger doses cause lethargy, jaundice, painful urination (apparently by making the urine acid) and coma before death. Reported instances of poisoning are few, perhaps because the plant is not particularly attractive and also because it had no tradition of medicinal use.

Pretty pink-flowered Herb Robert – geranium robertianum

Another of my all-time favourite little woodland plants is also beginning to appear, the pretty delicate and highly aromatic little Herb Robert. It is a common species of cranesbill in Europe, Asia, North America, and North Africa, and in Britain it is by no means confined to woodlands and may turn up anywhere it can get a hold, even on stony seashores.

The pungent aroma of the leaves is said to act as an insect deterrent and it does seem to be that no insect pest bothers it;  it has traditionally been used in bedding for animals for that reason.

Herb Robert is known to have many medicinal qualities, it is astringent, antibiotic, antiviral, styptic, tonic, diuretic, digestive, sedative and antioxidant. Of these properties, the main action of the herb is regarded to be astringent, which gives it the ability to treat external conditions such as bruises and skin irritations. From medieval times the herb has been applied as a compress to stop bleeding and heal wounds and because of its astringency it is also used to treat diarrhoea.

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Spring greens

20 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by theresagreen in Local Nature Reserves, Nature, nature of woodlands, nature photography, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

common ash, dog mercury, eristalis pertinax, Fairy Glen, fern fronds, garlic mustard, horse chestnut, sycamore leaves, tapered drone fly, wild arum, woodland flowers, woodland wildflowers

Recent rainfall has given a boost to the growth of  new vegetation and in the woodlands fresh greenery, in a myriad of shades and forms abounds….

Perfect new leaves of Sycamore - Acer pseudoplatanus

Oak before ash, in for a splash

Ash before oak, in for a soak ..

Leaves of the Ash tree are breaking from their tight buds

Horse chestnut trees seem to be in differing stages of growth; some still have new leaves breaking from their ‘sticky-buds’, others are in full leaf , while yet others are flowering.

Horse chestnut leaves breaking from their 'sticky-bud'

A fully open horse chestnut leaf

Horse chestnut tree with flower buds

Eristalis pertinax -Tapered drone fly - basking on new leaves of bramble - rubus

A fern frond unfurling

Another 'garlicky' plant; Garlic mustard -Alliara petiolara is an erect herb of open woodlands and disturbed soil that has dark green, heart-shaped, scallop-edged, deeply veined, long-stalked basal leaves that grow up to 5" across. Leaves are a food plant of the Orange Tip butterfly larvae.

Garlic mustard flower buds

Ferny leaf of Cow parsley - Anthriscus sylvestris

Dog's mercury-mercurialis perennis

The furled green spathe of a wild arum (cuckoo pint, lords & ladies)

The green spathe unfurls to reveal the purple spadex

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Fairy Glen Friday

07 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by theresagreen in Local Nature Reserves, Nature, nature of woodlands, nature photography, woodland birds

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bluebell, chaffinch, Fairy Glen, grey wagtail, long-tailed tit, nesting birds, ramsons, river Colwyn, spring flowers, woodland flowers, woodland walk

Friday seems to have become my day for a walk around the Local Nature Reserve of Fairy Glen, Old Colwyn. It is just a short walk from my current workplace, the busy post office, and very handy for an hour of fresh air and a chance to catch up with the progress of the season. The following pictures are those I took on the last Friday of March in less than an hour.

Bluebells are beginning to open

The wild garlic, or ramsons, is also showing one or two blooms

The horse chestnut leaves have grown significantly since last Friday and there are already flower buds appearing

It was quite a dull, cool day compared with last Friday and shady in the woodland. I didn’t have very long to linger, so I headed straight for the sycamore tree where the nuthatch and  blue tit pairs are nesting. I was hoping to get some better views of a nuthatch, but although I could hear the male’s distinctive calling from close by and followed his movements through the trees, he stayed away from the actual nest site. However, the blue tits were working hard furnishing the nest box and I had some lovely views of them both with beaks stuffed with moss.

The blue tit was waiting to carry material into the nest box

I carried on along the path, watching out for great tits, a species that I have heard calling and singing and seen here, but that continues to elude my camera. There was a pair flitting about in the trees and shrubbery close to the path, but they don’t stay still or visible for long. I did manage to get a quick shot of the male which is not great but included for the record.

The male great tit has a much broader black breast stripe than the female

Following after the great tits I stepped off the path a short way and caught a glimpse of bird in a tangle of brambles that turned out to be a male blackcap, yet another species to add to the list for this small area of woodland. He disappeared very quickly and quietly, but then I realised there was another bird in there too, a single long-tailed tit. As I stood watching it emerged from its cover and spent quite a few minutes foraging around the twiggy branches of a nearby small tree, allowing me some lovely close views.

Long-tailed tit, front view

Long-tailed tit from the back

A privileged view of a lovely bird. Long-tailed Tit – Aegithalos cordatus

The recent dry and warm weather has been a treat, but the effect of lack of rainfall is very evident in the current shallowness of the river. I wandered along the path,  lost in contemplation about water levels and was taken completely by surprise when, rounding a bend I spotted a pair of grey wagtails hunting in the shallow water. I have  no idea if this was the same pair that I have seen lower downstream, although I suspect it may be. I watched them flitting gracefully over the water, balancing on small rocks and darting out to chase flies, flashing their yellow underparts as they lived up to their name, wagging their long tails. A man and a dog finally disturbed them and they flew up into  nearby trees before heading back downstream.

Male grey wagtail showing a small amount of black around the throat area

Where the kingcups are  growing there is now also a large clump of  yellow flowered arum. This is an exotic plant of South African origin, but clearly flourishing in the boggy ground of this part of the riverbank.

An arum with large leaves and a yellow sheath; this is Lysichiton americanus

Close by I watched a male chaffinch hunting around an area of shallow water that then flew up into some twiggy shrubbery overhanging the water. He was gorgeous, plump and healthy and with a shiny beak and strong vibrant colours.

A colourful male chaffinch that was foraging on the riverbank before flying up onto a low shrub

The vibrantly coloured chaffinch from the front. Chaffinch – fringilla coelebs; the ‘coelebs’ translates as ‘bachelor bird’.

Further along the path I stopped to watch a subduedly plumaged female chaffinch searching the ground for nesting material. She picked up what I think may be strands of dog hair; holding them in her beak she flew up to a tree branch away from me.

The female Chaffinch is much more subtle in her appearance

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‘But it is the common species that keep the living world ticking over and provide most of our experiences of wildlife, and I would argue that maintaining the abundance of these is as important a conservation priority as maintaining the existence of rarities’. Richard Mabey

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